Azam to oppose Guv?s Rampur visit

A STORM is brewing in Rampur once again. This time, it is over Governor TV Rajeswar?s proposed visit. Urban Development Minister Mohd Azam Khan has decided to oppose the visit on April 26. According to reports, Samajwadi Party workers were preparing to show black flags and thwart the Governor?s visit to Gandhi Samadhi, if he was accompanied by Congress leaders. There was a flurry of activity at Raj Bhawan on Saturday to assess the situation following the minister?s threat.

A STORM is brewing in Rampur once again. This time, it is over Governor TV Rajeswar’s proposed visit. Urban Development Minister Mohd Azam Khan has decided to oppose the visit on April 26.

According to reports, Samajwadi Party workers were preparing to show black flags and thwart the Governor’s visit to Gandhi Samadhi, if he was accompanied by Congress leaders. There was a flurry of activity at Raj Bhawan on Saturday to assess the situation following the minister’s threat.

Reports quoting Khan said he was ready to resign on the issue. Khan had reportedly said in Rampur on Friday that the Governor’s visit would be opposed by all means. The Governor, who is chairman of Raza Library, is scheduled to visit the town to see the historical literary centre and pay his respects at the Gandhi Samadhi. Former Rampur MP and senior Congress leader Noor Bano told the Hindustan Times on Saturday that the Governor would have lunch at her residence. Noor Bano said Khan had abused the Governor over the proposed visit.

However, Khan sees politics in the Governor’s visit. Since Gandhi Samadhi had been at the centre of a controversy recently, Khan doesn’t want the Governor to take Congress leaders with him. The Congress had raised a storm over the shifting of the Samadhi from its original place during widening of a road. There was even an attack on AICC treasurer Motilal Vora, UPCC Congress president Salman Khurshid, Noor Bano and others during their visit to the Samadhi after its relocation.

Quite angry over the Governor’s move, Khan has reportedly said that he did not care for the ministerial post. District Congress spokesman Kashif Khan said, the minister while inaugurating a road in Rampur on Friday called upon the workers to thwart the visit of the Governor.

Significantly, it is for the first time that a minister has given such a call to oppose a visit by the constitutional head of the state. The situation has assumed serious dimensions, as both the civil and the police administration in Rampur have been silently following Khan’s diktats. It may be recalled that Khan’s relations with the Governor had worsened after the Raj Bhawan held back the controversial bill for the establishment of Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur. The minister thus wants people to show their anger to the Governor over the issue.